The Philadelphia Phillies have two new members following a raucous 2025 trade deadline across the league. With closer Jhoan Duran and outfielder Harrison Bader coming over from the Minnesota Twins, two players on the active roster were shuffled off by the Phillies on Friday afternoon.
The Phillies announced that outfielder Johan Rojas and right-hander Daniel Robert are the two roster casualties who will move aside to make room for the trade deadline additions. After initial reports that both players were optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, it turns out that Robert was actually placed on the 15-day IL with a right middle finger blister.
Right-handed pitcher Jhoan Duran and outfielder Harrison Bader reported to the club today. To make room for Bader on the 26-man roster, outfielder Johan Rojas was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Additionally, right-handed pitcher Daniel Robert was placed on the 15-day injured…
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 1, 2025
Johan Rojas optioned, Daniel Robert to IL with Duran and Bader added to roster
It wasn't necessarily cut and dry that Rojas would be the one to go with Bader joining the outfield mix. Weston Wilson also has a minor league option, and Max Kepler has been a huge disappointment this season, and fans wouldn't mind seeing him released. Nobody would have batted an eye if either of them was the one sent packing.
With minor league options remaining, Rojas was an easy choice for the Phillies to send to Triple-A. Hitting .224/.280/.289, the 24-year-old hasn't developed how the Phillies had hoped he would.
Robert came to the Phillies in a minor trade with the Texas Rangers in May. He had started to carve out a spot in the Phillies bullpen with a strong showing through 10 games that saw him pitch to a 1.23 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.
However, his last two appearances were less than ideal, as he allowed five earned runs over two innings of work on the road trip through New York and Chicago. His season ERA jumped to 5.79 following his last outing on July 29 against the White Sox. He demonstrated his strikeout upside with 12 punch outs in 9 1/3 innings, but he also walked eight, as he struggled with command at times.
Duran, 27, has been named the closer in manager Rob Thomson's bullpen. He carries a 2.01 ERA and 1.18 WHIP with 53 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings this year.
Phillies lay out complicated outfield plans for homestand
As for how the time-share will go among the remaining outfielders on the roster, Thomson laid out the plan ahead of Friday's game. Per Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Brandon Marsh and Bader will platoon in center field, and Kepler will platoon with Otto Kemp and Wilson in left. With alternating left-righty matchups for the next six games, things could change after this homestand.
Lauber also reports that Rojas will start playing the corner outfield positions in Triple-A to allow prospect Justin Crawford to continue playing center.
Right now, and possibly through at least the homestand, the #Phillies intend to platoon Marsh/Bader in CF and Kepler with Kemp/Wilson in LF. But Marsh and Bader can also play left — and quite well. So, you know, there’s that. https://t.co/PeMAg81qQL
— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) August 1, 2025
Bader comes to the Phillies slashing .258/.339/.439 with 12 home runs and 10 stolen bases in 96 games this year but hasn't been guaranteed an everyday role. Meanwhile, Wilson hasn't had much playing time to get going. Kepler has been abysmal, slashing .203/.297/.357, but sticks around after Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski's mind-boggling support.
We'll have to see how this experiment goes. If the offense doesn't pick things up and start hitting consistently, there could be more roster shuffling on the horizon.